


Broken Hands and Battered Hope

by wyrdann104



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Depression, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Suicidal Thoughts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-18 17:38:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5937090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wyrdann104/pseuds/wyrdann104
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Meikou-Teikou match, Kuroko becomes depressed. He allows himself to be hit by a car, and his emergency contact is Ogiwara Shigehiro.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I have no beta and this is my first fanfiction ever. Constructive criticism is always welcomed by this aspiring writer! I'm not entirely sure how the plot will go, so feedback would be wonderful.

"I don't even remember how to catch your passes anymore." The words echoed as Kuroko burned the lines of Aomine’s turned back into his mind and threw himself into playing basketball like it was the only thing he had left, like he could batter the hurt out of himself. After the championship game, Aomine's rejection was simply the finishing blow.

He let himself become even more introverted, as well, retreating into his own head and pulling his misdirection around himself like a protective cloak, as if he couldn't be hurt if he couldn't be found. Of course, the world doesn't work like that; it never works like that. His near-invisibility turned against him as he was rushing to school.

He was late, and he knew a shortcut, so instead of taking the crosswalk, Kuroko dashed across the street. Cars whizzed by, and as an oncoming vehicle bore down on him, Kuroko realized that the driver couldn't see him. There was pain, then darkness.

*-*-*

Ogiwara Shigehiro, who was just walking out the door, frowned as his phone rang. He flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Is this Ogiwara Shigehiro?"

"It is."

"A Kuroko Tetsuya was admitted to the hospital approximately half an hour ago. Your name was put down as emergency contact in the case of his parents being unavailable." Shigehiro felt his breath catch in his throat. Even after that game, Tetsuya had kept him as his emergency contact.

"What was he admitted for?" He demanded.

"He was hit by a car, and his right hand was crushed, among lesser injuries."

"I'll be there as soon as possible." Shigehiro immediately ran back inside and found his mother.

As soon as she was told of Tetsuya's injury, she gave him permission to skip school and promised to call the principle for him.


	2. Chapter 2

When Kuroko woke up, he was surprised to see Ogiwara at his bedside.

He blinked blearily, "Shige-kun? What- what happened?"

Ogiwara was slightly startled, but immediately began to scold him, "Tetsu! What were you thinking, jaywalking in heavy traffic? The doctor said you're lucky to be alive!"

He became unusually solemn, "Your left hand was nearly crushed by the car that hit you. The doc said you'll need months of therapy to get your hand close to how it should be."

Kuroko frowned slightly, the thought not quite sinking in. "Why are you here? I thought you-"

Ogiwara scoffed, "Like I'd honestly leave my best friend. Besides, you have my name down as your emergency contact. I'd like to think that counts for something."

Kuroko gave him the faintest hint of a smile, which quickly turned into a frown. He gave Ogiwara a despairing look, “Shige-kun, I saw. I saw the car coming. And I _didn’t care._ ”

Ogiwara carefully grabbed Kuroko’s uninjured hand, “It’s alright, Tetsu. It’s all right now. I’ll give you a reason to care.”

Kuroko’s smile became even more genuine, gratitude in his eyes as he breathed, “Thank you, Shigehiro. It’s- it’s nice that you care. I’m just so- so tired.”

His eyes drifted shut, “Thank-you.”

Kuroko’s next words were faint, “I’ve missed having a friend.”

Ogiwara’s smile dropped. Kuroko hadn’t had a friend? There were those Miracle %#@*!’s weren’t there? Or had they dumped Kuroko? Silently, Ogiwara swore to find a way to make their lives hell. There had to be a reason Ogiwara, who had attempted to break off their friendship, had been called instead of his ‘team,’ if they could even be called a team.

Well, he was here now, and those monsters weren’t, so Ogiwara was going to make things right with his friend.


	3. Chapter 3

Kuroko eyed Ogiwara dubiously. His friend was dangling a basketball in front of him. "Come on, Tetsu!" He wheedled, "Think of it as a challenge! You need to learn left-handiness anyway!"

When Kuroko still hesitated, Ogiwara pulled out the big guns, "You're not afraid, are you, Tsuki-chan?”

Kuroko gave him a frosty glare; "I would appreciate it if you did not call me that. Please give me the ball."

He awkwardly balanced the ball on his left hand before allowing it to bounce. He was unused to using his left hand, and it showed in the way he attempted to keep the ball bouncing.

However, when Ogiwara moved down the court slightly and called, "Pass it here, Tsuki-chan!" Kuroko immediately gave the basketball a hard slap and sent it flying. The pass was surprisingly accurate, hitting Ogiwara in the chest.

Ogiwara laughed delightedly, "See? You've still got it! We just need to think of a way to cover your right!"

Kuroko's eyes shone a little brighter than before. Even if he couldn't officially play, the challenge of redesigning his basketball style around his handicap would definitely keep him busy instead of moping.

He called back to Ogiwara, "Pass the ball back!”

It turned out that he could still redirect a pass without much difficulty, but throwing and catching were more difficult. However, practice with Ogiwara allowed him to become used to using only one hand.

 

It had taken Ogiwara a while to not flinch at the sound of a basketball being dribbled, but Kuroko needed something to work on and work towards, to keep from falling back into apathy. So he ignored the knot in his stomach and helped Kuroko relearn basketball. Then he helped his friend make his style better, and the knot in his stomach began to ease. 

Kuroko knew how to make himself as good as invisible, so Ogiwara asked, “Can you make yourself more visible? Like, attention grabbing instead of deflecting?”

That sort of succeeded; Kuroko had to deliberately draw attention to himself, which he could do, and then he had to keep it on himself, which he disliked doing.

However, Ogiwara had at least gotten Kuroko to swear to use it whenever he crossed the street.

Then, Kuroko's friend challenged another group to a two-on-two game. Kuroko was decidedly uncertain about it, right up until one of the two called him a cripple and insulted Ogiwara. Then, he was more than ready to go. They did manage to beat the two, especially as Ogiwara always seemed to know where Kuroko was about to be, sending the ball to what had been empty air just a second ago.

When one of the soundly defeated boys asked who the two were, Ogiwara grinned, "We're the Sun and Moon, of course!" Kuroko just shot his friend a withering look.

**(Note: Tsuki means moon. The moon is also traditionally feminine, while the sun is masculine. Kuroko does not like the implied girly-ness.)**


	4. Chapter 4

Eventually, the two sat down and talked about Teikou and the Generation of Miracles.

Kuroko admitted, “I want to prove to them that their sort of basketball, playing as five people working around each other, isn’t better than playing together, as a team. That, even broken, my style can beat theirs.”

Ogiwara narrowed his eyes, “You aren’t broken, so stop calling yourself that. Besides, we can beat them even with a handicap.”

His habitual grin came back as he added, “They’ll definitely need it, if we keep getting better like this. I’ve managed to adapt my style to yours already, and two is always better than one! And five is better than five ones.”

Kuroko had a faint edge of fond exasperation in his voice, “Shigehiro-kun, five and five ones are equivalent.”

He was silently relieved that Ogiwara was willing to join him in his self-imposed quest.

“Only when they’re together! The five can take on each one if they’re all separate and attack the five at different times!”

“Shigehiro-kun, you are being ridiculous again.”

“But you love me anyways, Tsuki-chan!” 

Kuroko's eyes were less dark and broken than they were before.


	5. Chapter 5

Kuroko followed his oddball friend through the throng of high schoolers attempting to recruit new students into their clubs. He carefully utilized his misdirection to ensure no one bothered him or Ogiwara, though it was extremely difficult to cover a second person while invisible himself.

Ogiwara had suggested it, of course, and now the skill was coming in useful. Then Ogiwara bumped into someone, and the veil of misdirection over him dropped. It couldn't stand up to touch, only sight, and couldn’t stand up to much scrutiny anyway.

His friend was nearly swarmed by club members until Kuroko pulled him away. Eventually, they found the basketball club's stall, and Ogiwara approached after the tall redhead left.

He smiled cheerily, "Hey! We'd like to sign up for the basketball club!"

The girl blinked, "We?"

Ogiwara nodded, "Yeah, me and Tetsu!"

He tugged his friend forward, and grinned at the girl's surprised start. Seeing peoples' reactions to Kuroko's trick was always amusing. 

Kuroko carefully filled in the information necessary, silently glad he could write nearly as well with his left hand as he used to with his right.

Ogiwara chatted a bit with the girl, listening to her introduction to the club, before he and Kuroko drifted away.  
 

xxx

Riko walked down the line of boys, giving out advice. When she reached the end, she frowned at her clipboard. The blue haired boy from earlier wasn't here. She was about to call a start to practice when he appeared in front of her. Riko held back a shriek. _Where had he come from?_

When she analyzed Kuroko, Riko was disappointed by his stats, and then she saw his right hand. It was in a brace, and it’s numbers were so low that it was nearly unusable!

She asked, both curious and doubtful, "Are you capable of playing basketball with an injured hand?"

Ogiwara immediately leapt to his friend's defense, "Of course he can! We can prove it, too! The two of us against any two people you choose!"

Kuroko's face was emotionless, but he let out a soft "Hai."

Riko nodded in agreement, curious to see how good the two were.

A few minutes later, she was amazed at the skill of and the trust between the two first years. Kuroko had slapped the ball from Izuki into Ogiwara's waiting arms, and then when Ogiwara was cornered, he'd thrown the ball to what looked like empty air, only for Kuroko to easily intercept the ball, even with his right hand out of commission. Their teamwork was effortless, allowing them to keep up with and slowly inch past the second years.

Riko was amazed, though she did her best to hide it, "How long have you two been playing together?"

Ogiwara grinned, "We've been playing street ball since we were little kids, but we've never been in any official competitions together."

Kuroko added his two cents, "We have played in street ball competitions before."

"But those aren't official."

He gave Riko another grin; "We're pretty notorious on the street courts. Just ask around about the Sun and Moon duo."

Riko made a note of it on her clipboard, "Alright, I agree Kuroko is good enough to play, but I won't make him a regular starter."

"That's probably a good thing." Kuroko's voice made most of the club jump, "My misdirection does not last long enough to take me through the entire game."

"Misdirection?"

“Hai. Due to my low presence and ability to redirect others attention away from me, I can become almost invisible. Unfortunately, it wavers as I become exhausted and others become accustomed to my presence. It will last for two or three periods of the game, but not all four.”

Riko sighed, "It's a good thing you told us about this before any games. We know now to not base everything on your abilities, though it would certainly make a good trump card." She began muttering about strategies and formations, scribbling furiously on her clipboard.

After a bit, she seemed to return for herself, and clapped her hands, "Alright, let's have a full practice game!" 

Kuroko sat out for that, due to his injured hand. As the game was played, he quietly explained his condition to Riko and answered any questions she had, both about his injury and his playing style.

 

After the second-years won, Riko considered what Kuroko had told her of his hand.

_"My hand was almost crushed by a car. Due to this, I have lost most of the fine motor movement in my right hand, though I can still use it for lifting and such. Shigehiro-kun has helped me redesign my previous style to compensate for this, and I can use my left hand nearly as well as I could my right."_

Riko was personally amazed and impressed by Kuroko's decision to keep playing basketball despite such a major injury. He had spirit, alright, and his passes were amazing. From what she could tell, much of what he needed to work on was stamina and shooting.

She finished jotting down her last notes and watched Ogiwara walk out the door, and as he was silhouetted by light from outside the gym door, Riko could see a blue-haired phantom standing beside him.


End file.
